Archive for May, 2010
Chimpanzee Vocalizations
Monday, May 31st, 2010Never enough Negra
Saturday, May 29th, 2010Negra with her favorite things – blankets and night bags
Photo miscellany
Friday, May 28th, 2010Thought I’d share a few photos Jackie snapped yesterday.
Jody resting on the wooden platform outside:
Annie in a new pose:
Foxie with trolls and her head in a bucket of water:
Ultimate goal reached! $1,800 to reach $50,000
Friday, May 28th, 2010We’ve reached the $45,000 goal!!! We will replace one more window if we reach $50,000 – only $1,800 more to get there. That will allow us to replace a grand total of seven windows – one for each chimpanzee! Two windows from LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, One from Anna Kircher’s generous match and you blog readers, and hopefully four from the 2nd Anniversary Fundraising.
The remaining windows we will keep as they are so that we can open them for air circulation. We are waiting for our welders to fit us in to their schedule. As soon as that happens, we’ll start installing the first three picture windows!
The idea behind our 2nd Anniversary Fundraising was to raise crucial funds for our operating expenses before doing any more projects, so any additional funds raised will go towards these operating expenses. Let’s see how far we can go!
A big thank you to recent donors who helped put us over the top:
*Karen and Don Young for their amazing $7500 match. They really allowed us to reach that goal so much faster!
* Frank Milette of Magnetic & Penetrant Services Co., Inc. Frank is volunteer Cari Parker’s boss. Remember that big roll of pink paper? Cari saw the paper at work, thought of Jamie, and asked her boss if she could bring it to the sanctuary. As a thank you for letting her give the chimps the paper, Cari shared a photo of Jamie in her giant pink nest and a link to our website, and Frank immediately wrote a very generous $1,000 check!
*Barbara Bakeletz (Barb in Ohio) who donated $875 to get us to the $40,000 goal.
* Volunteer Stephanie Perciful, who raised $700 through the Pet First Aid Class she and her husband Tim taught last week. Thanks to all who attended the training and donated!
* Tamela Burgess has been “feeding the banana” for months by working really hard to produce amazing and sought-after jewelry for her Etsy store. Her total raised so far is over $1,500!
*A special thanks also to our monthly donors, who keep us going whether we are having a special fundraising drive or not.
*I don’t want to leave anyone out! There have been so many donors over the last two months, and I will be updating our donor list soon to reflect all of these wonderful folks. Everyone who has given any amount since March 17th has contributed towards the 2nd Anniversary Fundraising. Our success is thanks to all of you.
We’ve come a long way, baby!
Thursday, May 27th, 2010In November 2008, volunteer Dakotta, of the High Mountain Sustainable Project, and myself came out to build the sanctuary compost boxes in preparation for a garden in the future.
The ground around the perimeter fence is nothing but fill dirt. But, in spring of 2009, we got serious and 96 wheelbarrow loads of compost, manure and top soil later…
And man o’ man, was last year’s garden successful!
But it just keeps getting better! This year, we’ve built up the trails around the beds so that the soil stays nice and warm. We are also in the process of tearing down the straw compost boxes and replacing them with wooden ones.
We’ve also added more beds around the south side of the building so that the chimps can get a closer view of what’s growing in their garden!
Royal City’s Cloudview Ecofarms have donated tons of starts for this years garden, including broccoli, kale, cabbage, onions, and lettuce.
Because of all of our hard work this year, I am now officially calling myself, Dakotta, JB, and volunteer Denice the “Garden Committee”. With the help of all these individuals, we’ve landscaped the area around the chimps’ outdoor area, which will soon also include more garden beds of fast-growing veggies, like carrots, lettuce, kale, etc…
Can’t wait to show you all the finished product! We’ve come a LONG, LONG way, baby!! Thanks so much Dakotta, JB, Denice, the awesome folks at Cloudview Ecofarms, and everyone one else that has contributed. You guys are awesome and are helping us provide the chimps with fresh (and enriching) food!
Photos of the day
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
Goofy Burrito
Monday, May 24th, 2010Chimps’ Choice and Adopt a Nerd
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010In April, our Chimps’ Choice item was cowboy boots. We now have a fantastic collection! Thanks to everyone who sent in gently used boots for Jamie. She clomped over to greet me this morning carrying one in her hand.
I just realized we only have a week to go in May, and we need a new Chimps’ Choice item. Since there’s only a week left, here’s something quick and easy that we are totally out of (once again). We need more protein powder for the chimps’ smoothies. It’s #4 on our Amazon list. We’ll send a special photo of someone having their morning smoothie to the first 10 people who help us restock our shelves. Thanks in advance!
And in other news, I’m unofficially launching a new way of helping us here at CSNW: “Adopt a Nerd.” I’m kicking it off with an invitation for someone to adopt Elizabeth, or more specifically, her feet. She needs new boots desperately – she’s walking around with tape covering the big gash in her left boot today! There is a replacement pair on our Amazon list (#1). Whoever sends them for her (quick!) will receive a thank you straight from Elizabeth. (UPDATE 8:00pm PT: Thank you Julie for adopting Elizabeth!)
We very affectionately refer to ourselves as chimp nerds (and I’m told that Dr. Suess coined the term), so I think it’s fitting to have an Adopt a Nerd program. We are very fortunate to have the most wonderful devoted fabulous nerds, ahem, staff who would do absolutely anything for the chimps. Elizabeth volunteered many many hours here before we had the budget to start paying her as a caregiver, and she is a treasured friend of the chimps. I can’t say how lucky CSNW and the chimps are to have both Elizabeth and Jackie. They are amazingly skilled and patient caregivers. I don’t know what the chimps (or I) would do without them. We also have a most wonderful devoted fabulous community of supporters via this blog. You have taught us that you too will do absolutely anything for the chimps! So I’m thinking this is a good way for someone to help us do our job better for the chimps. Or at least keep Elizabeth’s feet dry.
Don’t worry if you miss this chance – I’ll provide more opportunities to adopt Elizabeth, Jackie, and the rest of the nerds in upcoming months.
Felicity Day Part Deux
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010An anonymous donor chose this day, May 23rd, to honor Felicity Wood.
This year, Felicity Wood asked her friends and family to skip the birthday gifts and donate to the sanctuary instead. So, we have a lot of Felicity Days for 2010! Thanks so much, Felicity, for this act of giving, and for all of your friends and family for their generosity in helping to support your chimpanzee friends.
Check out the Sponsor-a-Day calendar to see what’s coming up and choose your own day to honor a loved one or yourself.
Today in memory of Zippy cat
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010Today is a Sponsor a Day in memory of Pam and Marc’s cat friend Zippy, who they still miss everyday.
The majority of CSNW supporters, like Pam and Marc, probably share their lives with companion animals. The CSNW staff collectively have dog, cat and bunny family members, and we understand the loss of animals under our care. So, today we’ll be thinking of the love we knew you gave to Zippy during his years with you.
Thank you for choosing to remember Zippy and helping the Cle Elum Seven chimpanzees at the same time.
Visit the Donate page for information on how you can Sponsor a Day and to view upcoming dates.
